


Enchanted Wonderland

by hhertzof



Category: New York Public Library (Fandom), Warehouse 13, Winnie-the-Pooh - A. A. Milne
Genre: Backstory, Gen, Hundred Acre Wood, New York Public Library - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-05
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-22 00:56:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1570013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhertzof/pseuds/hhertzof
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pete's dealt with this artifact before...if only he could remember how he escaped the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enchanted Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Twilight2000](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twilight2000/gifts).



Myka stared at the forest that had sprung up in the middle of the library. "What could possibly have caused this?"

Pete swung around, Tesla in hand and frowning. "It looks familiar somehow. Nope, it's gone. So what do we think? Books returning back to their natural state?" His foot caught on something and he fell into a stream that hadn't been there a few minutes ago.

"That wouldn't explain the water," Myka pointed out. From where they stood they could no longer see the library proper, just trees and field and stream. "Why would you think it looked familiar?"

"I don't know." Pete said, hauling himself out of the stream on the opposite side and shaking himself off. "Could have done without the dunking, though. "There should be a bridge further down. And I don't know how I know that either."

Myka studied him, but didn't comment. "This way then." They followed the stream as it wove through a stand of trees and there was indeed a bridge shortly after they emerged. "How far do you think we've come?"

"I dunno. Longer than the room was, I think." Pete frowned and set off to the right (East?) and Myka followed without comment. "This is looking familiar." He stared at what looked like a kid's treehouse. "Oh, wait. I _have_ been here before." He pulled his Farnsworth out of his pocket and tried to turn it on. After a moment he shook it and water dripped out of the case. "It's wet. Myka, lend me yours," he wheedled.

"Will they even work here?" But she handed it over anyway.

"Probably better than a cellphone," Pete said. "Now we just hope she picks up."

"Who?" Myka asked, but Pete was already speaking into the Farnsworth.

"Mom, did I get my hands on an artifact when I was really little? Something that trapped me in a forest. How did you get me out of there last time?" He frowned. "Mom? I can see you but not hear you. If you can hear me, I hope you'll remember this and can figure out how to get Myka and me out." He closed the Farnsworth with a grimace.

* * *

_Jane closed the Farnsworth, cursing inwardly. She remembered the incident as if it were only yesterday, and she still regretted having to bring Pete along. But Jeanne had been visiting friends for the day and his father had been on duty at the firehouse and Mrs. Frederic hadn't given her much of a choice._

_"I'm retired. Use one of your active agents," Jane had told Mrs. Frederic. "I've got other responsibilities now."_

_"But this is right up your alley," Mrs. Frederic had replied in that quiet way of hers. The one that it was impossible to argue with. "There are kids involved."_

_Jane hadn't even had a chance to find someone to watch Pete. She'd ended up leaving him at one of the puppet shows that the zoo had set up for kids that weekend with strict instructions to tell anyone who asked that "Mommy will be right back." She'd had misgivings even before she started searching for the artifact._

* * *

"Maybe if you try, you'll be able to remember what she did," Myka offered, without too much hope. "Do you remember how you got here?"

"I can't have been more than four or five," Pete said doubtfully, "and I'm sure my mom told me it was all a dream or something like that. I remember being in the woods and being scared. Or maybe it was because I was scared that I was in the woods. It felt safe and comforting but then I couldn't find my way out. And all I wanted to do was get home."

"But you got out eventually. How did Jane do it?"

"I don't remember. I remember a house in a tree. Not that one," he gestured at the tree house, "but one in the trunk with a proper door. I think it was this way." He started walking again in the direction they had been going in. "Everything seems so much smaller now."

"You're so much bigger." Myka pointed out.

"True, true. I remember dad was at the firehouse and mom had someone over and they were quarreling." Pete stopped dead in his tracks. "I think it was Mrs. Frederic."

Well, that makes sense, if your mom was working for the Warehouse back then."

He started walking again. "I don't think she was. I think that's what she was arguing with Mrs. Frederic about, just like she was at dad's funeral. Mrs. Frederic was trying to persuade her to take a case, and mom was refusing. I wish I could remember the details." Pete made a very Pete face as he tried to remember. "Her specialty was children and it had something to do with that. All I remember was that my sister was off with friends but she couldn't find a sitter for me so we were in a city somewhere."

This time it was Myka's turn to stop dead and look around. "Children. Were there stuffed animals involved?"

"Yes, yes there were!" Pete practically danced. "How did you know?" Then he smacked his head. "Of course. This is the Hundred Acre Wood, isn't it? But how did it get to the New York Public Library? And how did you know it was stuffed animals? I would have expected a map or something."

"Christopher Robin's original toys are on display here," Myka answered. "I wonder why they've never been moved to the Warehouse if they have this much power."

"We'll have to ask mom when we get out of here. So that's what happened. I played with the toys and they brought me into the Hundred Acre Wood. I even played pooh sticks with Winnie-The-Pooh. No wonder I thought it was all a dream."

"I imagine you took the place of their original owner," Myka said. "But you don't remember how your mom got you out of here, do you? Probably something to do with the original toys in the library."

"Yeah. I'm not sure we can get out from inside. But if we can, I'm sure we need to go to Christopher Robin's house. That's the last thing I remember."

"We're almost there." Myka said, "if I remember that map, and I studied it enough as a kid."

* * *

_"They're both very capable agents," Mrs. Frederic reminded Jane in that annoyingly calm manner of hers. She hadn't been sitting there a moment before."You don't need to rush to New York."_

_"Yes, I do. Don't you remember - the only way I got Pete back last time was finding the stuffed animals in our world. He's going to be dealing with the real thing and they won't want to let him leave." Toys with abandonment issues. And these weren't the only ones she'd dealt with in her long and storied career._

_"He's all grown-up now," Mrs. Frederic pointed out. "They'll want a child."_

_"They wanted Christopher Robin, who walked away. I'm not sure they'll be particular about Pete's age. We should have brought them to the Warehouse last time, not left them at the Library." Even though there was usually only trouble these days when Pooh and the other stuffed animals left the library."The last time there was any trouble from them was when they were talking about moving the toys back to England in 1998. I wonder what's stirred them up this time." Artie had definitely said that they were at the main branch of the New York Public Library, so it wasn't like someone had tried to remove them from the building._

_"I don't know. You have more experience with them than most, Jane.I'm sure you'll figure it out." Mrs. Frederic disappeared leaving Jane to glare at the space where she had been._

_Jane pulled out her laptop, thankful that flights had wifi these days, and did a quick search. It took almost no time to come up with the answer. Proposed renovations to the 42nd Street library that would send the stuffed animals out to New Jersey. Alarming, but was not impossible to deal with. A few emails to the right people and a few strings pulled should put an end to that idea in a hurry._

* * *

Christopher Robin's house had a bare, empty look, as though no one had lived there in ages. On the other hand, it was clearly being taken care of.

"You're very tall," a small squeaky voice came from behind the house.

Pete immediately sat down. "And you're very small. Hello, Piglet. You probably don't remember me. I'm Pete." He gestured for Myka to sit down beside him, which she did.

"I d-do remember a Pete. But he was much smaller than you."

"I grew. A lot." Pete grinned. "Piglet, this is Myka. It's okay. She won't hurt you."

"I'm so glad to meet you, Piglet. I've heard so much about you."

Pete noticed that Myka was grinning too. It was hard not to feel safe here. The trick was not to get so caught up in the idyllic peace that you wanted to stay. "Where are the others?"

"Oh, they'll be here soon. It's so rare we get visitors these days." Piglet put one hand (paw?) to his forehead and looked off in the distance.

"Oof!" Pete found himself on the ground with orange and black stripes before his eyes. "Easy, Tigger. Why is it always me who attracts the wild animals?" he asked vaguely, doubting Myka could hear him over her laughter.

"If it isn't the bestest Pete of all," Tigger hugged him tightly before bouncing off, leaving Pete to cautiously sit up again. "We missed you, you know.

"And I missed you too."

Tigger, Rabbit, Pooh and Eeyore appeared in a less violent manner and Pete introduced Myka to all of them. He'd never seen her quite so starstruck.

"You'll stay this time, won't you, Pete?" Pooh asked. "Myka too. We do so miss having someone to play with."

"I wish we could," Myka said wistfully, "but we have things to do out in the world."

Pete wasn't sure how much they would understand, but he had to try. "We help people now. And we need to go back."

"But we need you," Rabbit said. "It's a terrible terrible business. We've had three earthquakes this week."

"And the stream flooded," Eeyore added, "not that anyone cares. It's just water. Never mind that my home is all boggy now."

The others all had different incidents to add. Trees had fallen, paths no longer lead anywhere, and worst of all Roo had found cans and cigarette butts in the sandy pit.

Myka looked at Pete. "It sounds like something is messing with the structural integrity of the woods. This is supposed to be a safe place."

"You're telling me." He turned to Pooh and asked, "do you remember if stuff like this happened last time I came here?"

"I think so," he replied doubtfully. "It was a very long time ago. So many more pleasant things have happened since then." It was very clear Pooh didn't like to remember the bad times.

Pete couldn't blame him for that. "I wish we knew what triggered it."

* * *

_It wasn't as if Jane hadn't been through this before. In '98 there had been talk of returning the stuffed animals to England. And before that there had been periodic outbreaks before she'd figured out that as an artifact they were quietest in the New York Public Library. Their time in the Warehouse had been particularly fraught. She still hadn't found the original Roo, and she'd been looking off and on since '77. She had her suspicions that he was somewhere in Manhattan though. Pete had mentioned seeing him during his first trip to the Hundred Acre Woods, before she'd convinced him that it was all a dream. Not that her son was likely to believe that now._

_By the time she made her way from LaGuardia to Midtown, it was after 2am. She'd consulted with Artie on the way, and there had been no other reports of artifact activity and there had been no word from Pete or Myka. She was going to have to wake the Guardians. There were still a handful of people around, but this was New York and Jane was sure they'd seen stranger things._

_Patience and Fortitude grumbled at being woken, but they listened as she explained the situation, nodding gravely. "We too have been stirring, Regent," Fortitude said, once Jane had finished. "This plan will spell disaster - you know that as well as we. There are things in the stacks which should not be moved."_

_"I am well aware of this," Jane replied. Artifacts which were bound to the city of Manhattan that they dared not transport to the Warehouse."But why would it disturb Pooh and his friends."_

_"You think of them as a trap. A safe place which cannot be escaped," Patience answered, "but they have adopted this place and the people who visit them have tied them to the Library in ways you would not understand. To threaten the library is to threaten the wood."_

_"And vice versa," Jane said. It made sense. They were as much a part of this Library as they had ever been a part of the original Hundred Acre Wood. "I've pulled some strings. I suspect this mad plan to do away with the stacks and to renovate the Library will soon be dropped."_

_"Patience will let them know," Fortitude said."Enter the Library, Regent. No door is locked to you. No guard will obstruct you. Wait for your son by the showcase that houses the artifacts. I suspect he will be returned to you soon."_

_"Thank you." The other lion had already gone still again, so Jane gave Fortitude a friendly pat and started up the steps._

* * *

"The children who disappeared. Where are they?" Myka asked suddenly, wondering how she could have forgotten.

"They come, they go," Eeyore replied. "They don't stay long. Kanga was watching them over by the sandy pit. I tried but they kept pulling my tail off."

Pete couldn't help checking. "It's still there."

"Good. I wouldn't want to lose it. It's been a good tail and I'm kind of attached to it."

"We should go over there," Pete said. "Make sure everyone has made it home. Um, Myka, I haven't seen the cartoons in years, but I'm pretty sure there weren't lions."

Myka followed his gaze. There were indeed two lions pacing towards them. "They look familiar though." She frowned, considering. "Narnia only had one."

"It's okay," squeaked Piglet. "They're friendly lions."

"Well, if Piglet thinks they're friendly, then they must be," Pete still eyed them warily.

"Pete Lattimer?" one of the lions asked.

"That's me."

"We bring news from the Regent, Jane Lattimer. She has found the source of the disturbance in the wood and is tending toward it. Once balance is restored, so shall you be."

"You know my mother? How do they know my mother, Myka?" Pete babbled.

"She is one of the Regents, and I suspect," Myka looked the lions up and down, "that they're manifestations of artifacts too. Patience and Fortitude, if I'm not mistaken."

Both lions gravely bowed their heads, "At your service, Ms. Bering."

Myka was looking awestruck again, so Pete decided he really needed to do something to break the moment, especially since he hadn't figured out how she knew this. Some book, he guessed. "We should collect the kids. Make sure we come out together."

"They've all been restored," Fortitude said. "Soon, you will be too. We should return to our posts. Pooh, if you need help restoring anything that's damaged, you know where to find us."

Pooh nodded. "Thank you. And thank the Regent for us."

"I'll do that," Pete said. "She is my mother, after all."

* * *

_The last time Pooh and his friends had been awoken, Jane had just been a Warehouse agent. Now she was a Regent and she could feel the wrongness the moment she stepped into the building. Thankfully the Children's Center was on the main floor and it didn't take her long to reach the showcase housing the stuffed animals. She sat down at one of the tables and switched on her computer to skim her email and see if more nudges were necessary. To her relief, her emails seemed to have done the trick._

_She wasn't surprised. If any of the people involved in the decision had come into the library, the atmosphere here would have changed their minds. It felt like the building wanted her to succeed._

_Jane wasn't expecting anything before daybreak, so she was surprised when less than fifteen minutes later, she felt something release. Still, the flash of light that proceeded her son and Myka's reappearance startled her._

_"I take it you figured out the trigger?" Myka asked._

_"There was a plan afoot to renovate the building, remove the stacks and send them away." Jane gestured at the animals. "Thankfully I was able to pull some strings and hint that the renovation would be way too expensive. I believe they're going to put most of the money into expanding the Mid-Manhattan Library's offerings instead. And it's a good thing we had this warning. There are things in the stacks which shouldn't be moved from this building under any circumstances."_

_"Not even to the Warehouse?" Pete leaned against one of the tables and studied his mother._

_"Some we tried and it ended badly. Some just need to stay in Manhattan. Pooh and his friends are among the former."_

_"Pooh says 'thank you', by the way." Pete looked at the stuffed animals in the glass showcase. In the dim light, they almost seemed to be smiling. "I can't believe I've been to the Hundred Acre Woods twice. Awesome!_

**Author's Note:**

> [Winnie the Pooh timeline at the NYPL site](http://www.nypl.org/locations/tid/36/node/49184). In 1977 to celebrate Pooh's 50th Anniversary, there was at least [one event](http://books.google.com/books?id=PeQCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=bronx+zoo+winnie+the+pooh&source=bl&ots=uiWNkc6HGd&sig=ld4teeZzQMiiuBG2KssTlo0_K1U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=iOduU83IHeXlsATsm4C4CQ&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bronx%20zoo%20winnie%20the%20pooh&f=false) at the Bronx Zoo.  
> [Statement regarding the proposed NYPL renovation and the decision not to go ahead with it.](http://www.nypl.org/locations/tid/36/about)


End file.
